Feel ABSOLUTELY DISGUSTED stories

[MrsSpringsteen]

abcnews.com

When most people think of the Girl Scouts – especially this time of year at cookie time – they think of Thin Mints and Samoas, of campfires and green uniforms, but one Indiana Republican sees something vastly different: a “radicalized” abortion rights group that is destroying U.S. families.

That is why Indiana state Rep. Bob Morris - who represents Allen County, which includes the city of Fort Wayne – is not only refusing to sign a resolution to honor the 100th anniversary of the Girl Scouts of the United States of America but actively trying to get his fellow lawmakers to oppose the measure, too.

In a letter to his Republican colleagues at the Indiana statehouse, first obtained by the Journal-Gazette of Fort Wayne, Morris called the group a “radicalized organization” that backs abortion and promotes the “homosexual lifestyle.” Of the 50 role models that Girl Scouts study, Morris argued that “only three have a briefly mentioned religious background; all the rest are feminists, lesbians or communists.”

Even the White House wasn’t immune from Morris’ criticism. Morris wrote that first lady Michelle Obama’s role as an honorary president of the New York City-based group “should give each of us reason to pause before our individual and collective endorsement of the organization.”

Morris, who said he had done “a small amount of Web-based research” on the matter, claimed that “the agenda of Planned Parenthood includes sexualizing young girls through the Girl Scouts, which is quickly becoming a tactical arm of Planned Parenthood.”

Morris has two daughters who are part of the group but, he said, he sought out a specific troop for them that is anti-abortion. The organization overall, he wrote in his letter, “has been subverted in the name of liberal progressive politics and the destruction of traditional American family values.”

The married father of six and Indiana University graduate is owner and founder of a chain of retail stores called Healthkick Nutrition Centers.

The backlash from the Girl Scouts has been swift. Girl Scouts of Northern Indiana-Michigan posted a statement on its website titled “What We Stand For.” “No funds are allocated from either [Girl Scouts of Northern-Indiana Michigan or Girl Scouts USA] to Planned Parenthood,” the group said in its statement, adding that “issues related to human sexuality and reproductive health are best left to parents or guardians to discuss with their daughters.”

Planned Parenthood of Indiana also released a statement, with president and CEO Betty Cockrum saying, “It was disappointing to read Rep. Morris’ inflammatory, misleading, woefully inaccurate and harmful words about Planned Parenthood, the Girl Scouts of America and the president and first lady.”

“On the national level, inflammatory and generally inaccurate claims about a partnership between the Girl Scouts and Planned Parenthood have been promoted primarily by anti-choice lawmakers seeking to place pressure on organizations to disassociate or distance themselves from Planned Parenthood,” Cockrum said.

Even Republican House Speaker Brian Bosma ridiculed Morris’ stance, spending Tuesday dishing out Thin Mints to other lawmakers and joking that the letter made him buy 278 cases of cookies. Despite the mockery of some of his colleagues, an undaunted Morris said Tuesday that he is standing by his opposition and his daughters are now joining an alternative group run by conservative Christians.

[Moonlit_Angel]

Economy, Republicans. Work on the g*ddamned economy for once and shut the hell up about this other crap.

For cripes' sake... .

[MrsSpringsteen]

The National Enquirer is putting a photo of Whitney in her casket on the cover. Just as disgusting, if not more, is the person who took the photo at the viewing and sold it to them. Unless the Enquirer managed to get someone in there.

[Moonlit_Angel]

LOVELY.

Why, exactly, does a magazine think anyone would want to see that? Why would anyone want to see that?

[Pearl]

Originally Posted by MrsSpringsteen

In a letter to his Republican colleagues at the Indiana statehouse, first obtained by the Journal-Gazette of Fort Wayne, Morris called the group a “radicalized organization” that backs abortion and promotes the “homosexual lifestyle.” Of the 50 role models that Girl Scouts study, Morris argued that “only three have a briefly mentioned religious background; all the rest are feminists, lesbians or communists.”



Morris, who said he had done “a small amount of Web-based research” on the matter, claimed that “the agenda of Planned Parenthood includes sexualizing young girls through the Girl Scouts, which is quickly becoming a tactical arm of Planned Parenthood.”

Morris has two daughters who are part of the group but, he said, he sought out a specific troop for them that is anti-abortion. The organization overall, he wrote in his letter, “has been subverted in the name of liberal progressive politics and the destruction of traditional American family values.”

Sometimes I think these people are kidding. Then I realize they're not. Then I get depressed a bit.

[Pearl]

(CNN) -- A self-proclaimed animal rights activist in Ohio has been charged with soliciting a hit man to kill a random person wearing fur, either by shooting the individual or slitting his or her throat.
Meredith Lowell, 27, of Cleveland Heights, is accused of creating a phony Facebook profile with the intention of contacting a would-be killer, according to the affidavit filed in an Ohio district court.
Lowell allegedly posted on the social media website the following request: "I would like to create an online community on facebook which would allow me to find someone who is willing to kill someone who is wearing fur toward the end of October 2011 or early November 2011 or possibly in January 2012 or February 2012 at the latest."
An undercover FBI agent then contacted her, posing as a hit man after the agency subpoenaed Facebook to uncover details about her profile.
She then allegedly requested that the murder take place at a local library and that she be present so that she could then hand out documents about animal cruelty after the homicide.
"Bring a sharp knife that is at least 4 inches long, it should be sharp enough to stab someone with and/or to slit their throat to kill them," Lowell allegedly wrote in an e-mail, according to the affidavit.
The individual should be at least 12 years old, but "preferably 14 years or older," Lowell allegedly wrote.
"I want the person dead in less than 2 minutes (under 2 minutes or 1 minute or less would be better.)"
In April 2011, Lowell allegedly sent an e-mail to the Cleveland Heights Police Department in which she "indicated that she had been investigating the fur industry and believes the police should also conduct an investigation," according to the affidavit.
Lowell was arrested Tuesday by federal marshals and is awaiting a hearing.
Her attorney could not be immediately reached for comment

Woman accused of hiring hit man to kill random fur-wearer - CNN.com

[maycocksean]

^W.T.F.

Clearly this person is unhinged.

[Moonlit_Angel]

Um. Okay.

People that mentally unstable are truly some of the most terrifying ones to have out and about in society.

[indra]

Oh great...another crazy ass Ohioan.
Why do so many of the really nutty ones have to be from Ohio?

[Moonlit_Angel]

So I just saw this online. Let's try and count the number of things that are wrong within this story, shall we?

8-year-old critical after Wash. school shooting - Yahoo! News

Investigators were working to determine how the child got the gun.

This is what I'd like to know, too.

Hope that girl will be okay. My thoughts to her family and friends.

[corianderstem]

A state trooper was shot and killed this morning as well. And then a park ranger was shot and killed by some lunatic at Mt Rainier last month.

It hasn't been a banner year for Washington so far.

[AchtungBono]

Portion of 9/11 remains dumped in landfill, report says - CNN.com

This is horrible and I hope they throw the book at those responsible.

Also, I hate the idea that the remains of the terrorists are intermingled with those of their victims - I would throw the terrorist's remains down the toilet and let the sewer rats enjoy them....

[MrsSpringsteen]

5,4,3,2,1..till someone, somewhere links this to Obama somehow

She has no income and bills to pay? Half a million bucks isn't income and can't pay the bills? How about selling one of the houses?

You'd think SOMEBODY might have thought about cross checking food stamps with lottery winners ages ago.

yahoo.com

UPDATE: The Michigan Department of Human Services announced yesterday that they have taken Amanda Clayton off the Michigan Bridge Card program. Original story begins below.

**********

People love stories about someone winning the lottery and then giving the money away. They're less likely to feel fondly about Amanda Clayton, who won $1 million in the Michigan State Lottery but is still collecting food stamps.

"I thought that they would cut me off, but since they didn't, I thought maybe it was OK because I'm not working," Clayton, 24, told Local 4 news in Detroit.

Back in December, a woman in Washington State fell under scrutiny when it was revealed she was receiving state economic benefits even though she lives in a $1 million waterfront home on Lake Washington.

Clayton, who says she owns two homes and a new car, receives $200 a month in food assistance from the state-issued Michigan Bridge Card, which is meant to benefit lower-income residents in the nation's eighth most economically depressed state.

Twenty-five percent of Michigan's residents receive some form of food assistance from the state. The state's unemployment rate is 9.3 percent, more than a full point above the national average, but has dropped from a 10.4 percent peak in August.

And Clayton isn't embarrassed about living off the state even though she now finds herself in the nation's top tax bracket. "I mean I kinda do," Clayton told Local 4 when asked if she had a "right" to the government welfare.

She certainly doesn't the fit the mold of other lottery winners we have told you about here at the Sideshow, including the number of repeat winners of the Georgia State Lottery, many of whom chose to donate their initial winnings to charity or family members in need.

Clayton downplayed her wealth, saying she took the $1 million in a lump sum, which meant about half immediately went to taxes. "I feel that it's OK because I mean, I have no income and I have bills to pay," she said. "I have two houses."

Her story has already caught attention locally, where state Republican Rep. Dale Zorn has sponsored a bill preventing individuals like Clayton from taking state financial assistance.

"Public assistance should be given to those who are in need of public assistance, not those who have found riches," Zorn told Local 4. The bill, which has already passed the state House and has a sister bill in the Senate, would require the state to cross check the names of lottery winners over $1,000 to see if they are also receiving state financial benefits.

[Moonlit_Angel]

Originally Posted by MrsSpringsteen

Back in December, a woman in Washington State fell under scrutiny when it was revealed she was receiving state economic benefits even though she lives in a $1 million waterfront home on Lake Washington.

Clayton, who says she owns two homes and a new car, receives $200 a month in food assistance from the state-issued Michigan Bridge Card, which is meant to benefit lower-income residents in the nation's eighth most economically depressed state.

Meanwhile my parents had to bend over backwards to prove that they were eligible for the food stamps we'd received for a time a couple years ago. And we lived in an apartment. With an older van as our means of transport. Which kept breaking down constantly (which was not a fun time for us, given we were living in South Dakota during one of their significantly colder/snowier winters at the time), therefore causing my mom to have to find other means of transport for her part-time work. My dad could not work, 'cause he was in and out of the hospital on a regular basis.

South Dakota and Michigan are different states, I know, but still...seriously, how the HELL does that work in any state?

[MrsSpringsteen]

ORLANDO, Florida (Reuters) - The family of a 17-year-old African-American boy shot to death last month in his gated Florida community by a white Neighborhood Watch captain wants to see the captain arrested, the family's lawyer said on Wednesday.

Trayvon Martin was shot dead after he took a break from watching NBA All-Star game television coverage to walk 10 minutes to a convenience store to buy snacks including Skittles candy requested by his 13-year-old brother, Chad, the family's lawyer Ben Crump said.

"He was a good kid," Crump said in an interview, adding that the family would issue a call for the Watch captain's arrest at a news conference on Thursday. "On his way home, a Neighborhood Watch loose cannon shot and killed him."

Trayvon, who lived in Miami with his mother, had been visiting his father and stepmother in a gated townhome community called The Retreat at Twin Lakes in Sanford, 20 miles north of Orlando.

As Trayvon returned to the townhome, Sanford police received a 911 call reporting a suspicious person.

Although names are blacked out on the police report, Crump and media reports at the time of the shooting identified the caller as George Zimmerman who is listed in the community's newsletter as the Neighborhood Watch captain.

Without waiting for police to arrive, Crump said, Zimmerman confronted Trayvon, who was on the sidewalk near his home. By the time police got there, Trayvon was dead of a single gunshot to the chest.

"What do the police find in his pocket? Skittles," Crump said. "A can of Arizona ice tea in his jacket pocket and Skittles in his front pocket for his brother Chad."

Zimmerman could not be reached for comment on Wednesday evening at a phone number listed for him on the community's newsletter.

Crump said the family was concerned that police might decide to consider the shooting as self defense, and that police have ignored the family's request for a copy of the original 911 call, which they think will shed light on the incidents.

"If the 911 protocol across the country held to form here, they told him not to get involved. He disobeyed that order," said Ryan Julison, a spokesman for the family.

"He (Zimmerman) didn't have to get out of his car," said Crump, who has prepared a public records lawsuit to file on Thursday if the family doesn't get the 911 tape. "If he never gets out of his car, there is no reason for self-defense. Trayvon only has skittles. He has the gun."

Since Trayvon, a high school junior who wanted to be a pilot, was black and Zimmerman is white, Crump said race is "the 600 pound elephant in the room."

"Why is this kid suspicious in the first place? I think a stereotype must have been placed on the kid," Crump said.

[Moonlit_Angel]

Since Trayvon, a high school junior who wanted to be a pilot, was black and Zimmerman is white, Crump said race is "the 600 pound elephant in the room."

That's putting it mildly.

Just read about that story a little while ago. Race of the people involved aside, if the kid was just walking...that's not a crime. If this Zimmerman guy was that concerned about the kid, he should've just sat in his car, kept an eye out, and kept his phone near him so that if the kid DID start showing any sort of "unusual" behavior or started threatening him or whatever, he could then call the police and then maybe confront the kid if he absolutely needed to.

Otherwise, yeah, this sounds like a guy on something of a power trip leading to a very tragic ending. Quite sad.

[INDY500]

Originally Posted by MrsSpringsteen

**********

People love stories about someone winning the lottery and then giving the money away. They're less likely to feel fondly about Amanda Clayton, who won $1 million in the Michigan State Lottery but is still collecting food stamps.

"I thought that they would cut me off, but since they didn't, I thought maybe it was OK because I'm not working," Clayton, 24, told Local 4 news in Detroit.

Pointing out that; since she has the means to pay it would be wrong for her to expect others to purchase her food. = The obvious

Pointing out that; since she has the means to pay it would be wrong for her to expect others to purchase her contraception, especially if it was against their religious convictions. = War on Women

[BVS]

Originally Posted by INDY500

Pointing out that; since she has the means to pay it would be wrong for her to expect others to purchase her contraception, especially if it was against their religious convictions. = War on Women

Why this constant elementary school breakdown?

My religious beliefs didn't coincide with the Iraq war, why was I expected to pay for it?

We can go simpleton all day long.

[maycocksean]

Originally Posted by INDY500

Pointing out that; since she has the means to pay it would be wrong for her to expect others to purchase her food. = The obvious

Pointing out that; since she has the means to pay it would be wrong for her to expect others to purchase her contraception, especially if it was against their religious convictions. = War on Women

Nope, that analogy doesn't fly here.

The story isn't about the appropriateness of taxpayer funded food assistance, it's about whether the woman was an appropriate recipient of that assistance. The PROBLEM is not the assistance but the person receiving it.

Further, you have never argued that contraceptives should be made available only to those who can't afford it.

[Liesje]

The Bridge card issue isn't just about lottery winners. It's been a hot topic here for a while and this is just the icing on the cake. Most of the media attention has been over the fact that there were some 30,000 college students abusing the Bridge card system because of a loophole in how they are awarded.